PDA

View Full Version : George Lucas: No More Big Movies


Fire Me Boy!
10-05-2006, 08:04 AM
http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/737/737407p1.html

George Lucas: No More Big Movies

Talks Star Wars, Indy, Red Tails and more.

by IGN Staff

October 5, 2006 - George Lucas appears to be out of the big-budget movie business for good. The semi-retired Star Wars filmmaker recently granted an interview with industry insider mag Variety in which he reveals that he and his company Lucasfilm are finished making movies where a large financial investment is involved.

"We don't want to make movies," explains Lucas. "We're about to get into television. As far as Lucasfilm is concerned, we've moved away from the feature film thing because it's too expensive and it's too risky. I think the secret to the future is quantity." He adds that he would rather spend $200 million making 50-60 smaller movies than one big-budget film. "That's 120 hours as opposed to two hours. In the future market, that's where it's going to land, because it's going to be all pay-per-view and downloadable."

But Lucasfilm isn't getting out of the features game all together just yet. Lucas confirms that he still has Indiana Jones 4 in the pipeline. "Steve (Spielberg) and I are still working away, trying to come up with something we're happy with," he says. "Hopefully, in a short time, we will come to an agreement. Or something." At least he can't be accused of being overly optimistic. Lucas is also working on Red Tails, his long-in-development film about the Tuskegee airmen of WWII. Lucas says he plans to serve as executive producer on both pictures as well as the forthcoming live-action Star Wars TV series.

Once those projects are launched, the frequently-flanneled filmmaker revealed that he intends to focus on making "small movies, esoteric in nature."

Lucas also referred to the planned Star Wars animated TV series and hints that Lucas Animation may eventually make a feature film. "Right now we're doing television, which looks great. I'm very, very happy with it," he said. "And out of doing the animation, we're getting the skill set and the people and putting the studio in place so we can do a feature. But it's probably going to be another year before we have the people and the systems in place to do a feature film."

Hammock Parties
10-05-2006, 08:08 AM
ROCK ON WITH YOUR BAD SELF!

Easy 6
10-05-2006, 08:11 AM
I heard his next space-opera will explore the mystical universe that exists in his neck fat.

Deberg_1990
10-05-2006, 12:27 PM
Dont do us any favors George.

NewChief
10-05-2006, 12:34 PM
Dont do us any favors George.


No kidding. Take away the grand scope, special effects, and childhood nostalgia of the SW series, and you're left with some really bad dialogue and poor acting (sorry GoChiefs).

Deberg_1990
10-05-2006, 12:36 PM
No kidding. Take away the grand scope, special effects, and childhood nostalgia of the SW series, and you're left with some really bad dialogue and poor acting (sorry GoChiefs).

The best thing he has ever directed is still American Grafetti

Halfcan
10-05-2006, 01:06 PM
His last few movies LOOKED like TV quality special effects-so that seems to be a good move.

Halfcan
10-05-2006, 01:07 PM
Indy 4-ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZ

StcChief
10-05-2006, 01:41 PM
The best thing he has ever directed is still American Grafetti

Yep. without a doubt. True character build, great story. Everyone can relate to it.

A different generation, pre-star wars crowd.

Eleazar
10-05-2006, 02:03 PM
The newest 3 star wars movies were garbage.

If it weren't for the nostalgia attached to the older 3 movies, those would be rightly regarded as unadulterated dreck.

DMAC
10-05-2006, 02:15 PM
They should just leave Indy 4 alone. Please don't screw up something else...please.

Why don't we put Michael J. Fox in another Back to the Future and ...never mind. I'm an ass.

DJJasonp
10-05-2006, 02:19 PM
Harrison Ford needs Indy 4 bad.....he's dropped off the A-list.

I'm for it if it's quality....Indy 3 was still a lot of fun. Too bad river phoenix died...he could have carried on the young Indy story pretty well...

DaneMcCloud
10-05-2006, 03:24 PM
Dont do us any favors George.

Whether or not you've enjoyed Lucas's recent movies, his impact on movie making and the movie business is absolutely unparalled. Here's just a short list of achievements behind the camera and behind the scenes:

Wrote and directed American Graffiti, which was made for $770,000 and grossed over $115 million domestically. AG helped to finance Star Wars.

Wrote, directed and produced Star Wars.

Created ILM, which is the leader in special effects.

Created Droid, a film editing program in 1980. This was later sold to a couple of guys who renamed it Avid. Avid video editing and Pro Tools are the industry leaders in Film Post Production and Music creation and production, respectively.

Created Pixar. Sold it to Steve Jobs for $10 million.

Launched the film careers of Harrison Ford, Cindy Williams, Ron Howard, Richard Dreyfuss, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, as well as directors Ron Howard, Joe Johnston and Steve Sommers, to name a few.

He recently donated $175 million to the USC film school, his alma mater.

I welcome his vision for television, especially considering the piracy issue that the film industry will soon be facing.

DMAC
10-05-2006, 03:35 PM
Mark Hamill, Launched? I would say Mark Hamill was the like the 1985 Challenger disaster.

Easy 6
10-05-2006, 03:43 PM
I would rather see George re-release the Star Wars series for the 187th time, all the better to soak up more cash. He's gonna need that extra kwan to keep his chin well fed.

DaneMcCloud
10-05-2006, 07:14 PM
Launched? I would say Mark Hamill was the like the 1985 Challenger disaster.

Then I guess you're not familiar with his extremely successful voiceover and cartoon character career.

And FWIW, I think Mark Hamill is about a million freakin' times better than Hayden Christensen, which is something I thought could never happen. It's amazing how bad the choice of Christensen was for the most infamous character in the Star Wars universe.

Easy 6
10-05-2006, 07:28 PM
Then I guess you're not familiar with his extremely successful voiceover and cartoon character career.

And FWIW, I think Mark Hamill is about a million freakin' times better than Hayden Christensen, which is something I thought could never happen. It's amazing how bad the choice of Christensen was for the most infamous character in the Star Wars universe.
I'll second that Dane, Hamill is DeNiro compared to "Hayden" my tool has more acting chops than that goof. BTW, i hope Hollyweird is treatin' ya' right. I lived there for a year, on Alvarado, just off Sunset, cant believe i am alive after a year in Echo Park LMAO

KCinNY
10-05-2006, 07:32 PM
Let's not forget his masterpiece "Howard the Duck."

Frazod
10-05-2006, 07:33 PM
Then I guess you're not familiar with his extremely successful voiceover and cartoon character career.

And FWIW, I think Mark Hamill is about a million freakin' times better than Hayden Christensen, which is something I thought could never happen. It's amazing how bad the choice of Christensen was for the most infamous character in the Star Wars universe.

I don't blame Christensen entirely; he's been decent in other things. Portman has been awesome in other things. Together, under the inept direction of Lucas, they suck ass. The acting was horrible in the original Star Wars, too (only Cushing and Guinness had the chops to overcome Lucas).

The only good acting occurred in Episodes V and VI; ironically, these were the ones that Lucas DIDN'T direct. Imagine that.

Lucas is a great visionary. He should have stayed behind the scenes in all the movies and let somebody who's a lot better with people get behind the camera.

Halfcan
10-05-2006, 08:01 PM
Let's not forget his masterpiece "Howard the Duck."

Lea Thompson is sooo hot.

JohnnyV13
10-05-2006, 08:05 PM
The newest 3 star wars movies were garbage.

If it weren't for the nostalgia attached to the older 3 movies, those would be rightly regarded as unadulterated dreck.


I actually liked the last star wars movie where he becomes darth vader. I thought it was well done. The other two were not very good